


Just Hold On

by ofcintra



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Arranged Marriage, Badass Rey, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fairy Tale Curses, Force Bond (Star Wars), Minor Character Death, Minor Leia Organa/Han Solo, Minor Poe Dameron/Finn, Prince Ben Solo, Queen Rey (Star Wars), Sleeping Beauty Elements, War, well at the beginning kinda
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24512062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofcintra/pseuds/ofcintra
Summary: Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong. There was a smell of smoke that lingered in the air, and shouts that came from beneath his window were horrible, and if anything was to signal danger, it was the red and orange blazes that came from the village. He sees his mother when he exits his room, looking like she had just sustained a worrying amount of injuries. He hadn’t wanted to know where she got them from, it was both too early and too late for anything but the need to get out of here.Prince Ben Solo's kingdom on Naboo gets caught up in the war against the Sith. The neighbouring kingdom of Jakku sent their lone queen Rey to be his betrothed but the war leaves their kingdoms in ruins, leaving him stranded with Rey to look for his uncle to help bring an end to the war.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 5





	Just Hold On

She was quite beautiful. He can’t deny that. The dress she was wearing made her look even more stunning, shoulderless and almost like it was made of both silk and linen, but bits of dirt and dust were gathered at the bottom, as if she’d wandered through mud before she came. Ben can't look away from her.

Then they’d locked eyes, the second she had stepped off the docks and onto the soft grasses of Naboo. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes but Ben guessed that his didn’t either. 

“Listen,” She whispers when she’s close enough for him and him only to hear. “I don’t want this, you probably don’t want this, but it needs to happen.” 

He nods, unsure of what else to do, looking over to his parents and advisor, who looked upon them with sudden interest. Speaking loud so his parents can hear, he says, “Now, my future queen, would you like me to give you a tour of our castle?” 

He almost can’t hide the disgust that comes out with his voice, through his barred teeth, but it’s evident enough that he feels a shift between himself and Rey before leading her to the castle.

  
  


* * *

  
  


His advisor stood across the table, his clipboard held in his hands, one he always carried with him somehow. Ben had once thought that he slept with that slab of wood still in his hands, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he was right. 

  
“It is vital for you to marry Rey, it is a necessity for both our kingdoms.”

“You can’t just expect me to marry her!” Ben nearly shouts, his hands running through his hair. She was nothing like what he’d expected, too arrogant and stubborn for his liking and the glares sent his way said all he needed to know about how she felt about it as well. She seemed to be the exact opposite of what they needed here on Naboo, which was a kind but firm leader to rule beside him, one that wasn’t a poor slob such as she. She looked too dirty to be a queen, parts of her dress that must’ve been white earlier are smudged with brown, black and yellow, and there was always specs of sand in her hair, to which he had no clue of how it got there. His advisor frowns, the lines of his face is more evident the deeper his grimace got. 

“She’s vile, and she  _ hates _ me!” 

“She does not  _ hate _ you, and you have to marry her!” His advisor says, breaking the calm demeanour he always seemed to have. 

“It’s for diplomacy, we need the resources only Jakku has, and you know this was arranged by the King and Queen and that I have no say in this.” 

“Jakku is full of criminal scum and scavengers, not warriors, not what we  _ need _ ! We’re in the middle of a goddamned war!” Ben bangs his hands against the desk, leaning over to glare at him. 

“We need knights, people who can fight, not pigs and freaks!” 

His advisor’s frown grows deeper, if possible, and drags his clipboard further up his frame, it’s end on his chest. 

“You know I am not the one you should be having this argument with, my prince.” 

His hands curling into fists, he debates arguing further with his advisor. He makes a good point, his parents should be the ones he talks to. 

“Very well.” Ben says, turning his back to him.

Upon his exit from the room, he comes face to face once more with Rey. She glares at him as she passes, her dress flaring out with her steps. 

While he may not like the way she looks at him, he cannot deny that she is physically attractive, despite all the grime that seemed to be on her all the time. It would be an issue for later, or more hopefully, it wouldn’t have to be an issue with her as far away from his kingdom as possible. For now, all he needed to worry about was getting out of this marriage. 

Making his way to his parent’s room, which lay beside the throne room, he was sure to pass Hux, who he was also sure was a spy for the Sith. He had debated telling his parents, who must have also known this, and about exile or worse. He was sure word would spread to the Sith and make things infinitely worse for their kingdom. While they were aware of one spy, he was never sure how many were sent. 

When he reaches the door, he doesn’t bother knocking. It was too late in the night to care, and he knew his parents were still up, constantly kept awake with battle plans. 

“I’m not marrying Rey.”

“Ben, you have to marry her. Jakku has resources we cannot pass up, and this is what their kingdom proposed.”

With an aggravated groan, Ben kicks at the table that stood between him and his parents. They had married for love, but what they proposed for him was nothing he expected from them. They should know their own son better, but as someone who had been raised more often in the company of the castle’s servants than his own parents, he supposes he understands that they  _ don’t _ understand him. Perhaps they never would. The amount of time spent away from him on their diplomatic duties gave them no chance, anyway.

“What sort of resources?”

His parents share a look before his mother says, “Resources that could very well bring an end to this war.” 

He scowls, digging his hands into his pockets to keep them from flying out in rage. There could very well be other kingdoms that had resources they could use, one that didn’t have to end in an arranged marriage, one that could mean the demise of their kingdom. 

His father was good at negotiating, so if this was the final offer, there must have been something far worse in mind originally. 

There was no use in arguing. He would just have to prove to his parents that this was a bad deal, to show them that Rey wasn’t someone he thought could rule.

“Fine. If I could find you another kingdom that can get you what you need, you call off this marriage.” It sounds more like a demand, but his mother nods, and there’s a look in his father’s eyes he can’t distinguish as proud or disappointed, but it was no matter. 

He would just have to get out of this, one way or another. 

  
  


Something was wrong. Something was  _ very _ very wrong. There was a smell of smoke that lingered in the air, a shroud of it hovering over everything. The shouts that came from beneath his window were horrible, and if anything was to signal danger, it was the red and orange blazes that came from the village. He sees his mother when he exits his room, looking like she had just sustained a worrying amount of injuries. He doesn’t want to know where she got them from, it was both too early and too late for anything but the need to get out of here.

“Use the tunnels and get out!” His mother yells at him, hiking that dress he hated up to her shins so she could run faster without the fear of tripping. The castle was under attack, the raids and fires that happened in the village had only gotten worse, and what was left of the people was either just outside the castle’s walls or had been burnt alive or had strayed from the village entirely. He hadn’t looked for his father yet, but he felt through the force that he was still alive, still breathing at least. He wasn’t sure how long that would last, considering the state of it all. He couldn’t care less about Rey, but it was unjust to just leave her here to die with the ruins of his kingdom. Or what once was to be his, for it was now about to be nothing but rubble. 

He didn’t have to worry about it for long, because she was behind him, her short dress torn at the edges. “Well?” She says, scowling. “Are you going into the tunnel or are you going to stand here and fall with your castle?”

“Right.” He says, too calm for his liking, lifting up the trap door and using the ladder two steps at a time, as quickly as he could. The tunnels lead beneath the undercroft, beyond the village.

When Rey reaches the bottom with him, there’s no time to say anything, because an explosion loud enough to drown out everything is heard from above them. There’s fire and light and a ringing in his ears, but worse than that, he can hear his mother screaming before Rey pulls him forwards, and they’re running despite the explosions, leaving everything behind. Everything he’d ever known had been in that castle, in this kingdom, and now it would all be nothing but remains, assuming there would be something left over when all of this is done with. 

“Keep moving!” She yells at him, dragging him by his hand. He has to stop, his mind wants him to stop, but his body keeps moving because he can’t just sit and mourn over losses when he could very well lose his life as well down here. He runs faster, going with the twists and turns of the tunnel, the torches lit in the hallways barely enough for him to see, but he knows Rey is behind him when he finally picks up the pace. 

By the time they reach the end, he can still hear the explosions. He can still hear his mother’s screams, and he can’t accept that he’ll most likely never see his parents again. 

“Ben?” It’s the softest he’d ever heard her voice, but it’s not like he’s heard much of it over the time she’d been here. She sounds genuinely worried if that much is evident enough a look on her face she’d never seen before. 

He breathes in and out, ignoring the shakiness of it all. “Let’s just keep moving.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was having fun with this AU idea this morning, and did bare minimum editing on it, sent a draft to my friends and then fell asleep before writing the next couple chapters soooo I'm writing this when my brain is mushy and my blood is mainly caffeine and nothing else (and it's sitting in my docs at 10k because it's evening now and I've been writing and editing this since 9am)  
> yeah i don't have a single clue where I'm going with this, but i'm hoping it'll be a fun adventure for us all maybe! i haven't written multichapter fics since 2016, so stick with me, maybe this will go somewhere you'll like!  
> (also i get that this is a little bit ooc but I'm just having fun, you don't have to read it if you don't want to)  
> this fic is basically my child that i hate and love at the same time lol


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